Primary Menu

Why are these elephants on my new author website?!!

My forthcoming novel, The World on Either Side, features elephants. Compelling creatures that they are, they practically steal all of their scenes, so I thought it was only appropriate that they steal my front page.

Mohawk, the baby bull elephant in my novel—named for the bristly red hair on the top of his head—is about the age of the youngest calf in the photo. When Mohawk is orphaned by poachers, my heroine, Valentine Joy (a 16-year-old from Toronto) and Lin (a young Burmese elephant keeper with a secret past) take off into the jungle to try and save him.

When my wonderful agent, Sam Hiyate, sent the manuscript out, some editors refused to read it, because they couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to elephants. I can’t stand it either, which is why I hope you’ll read the novel.

My cousin, a wildlife photographer, took this shot, and this is what she said about it: “Nothing prepares you for the majesty of seeing these creatures in their wild habitat. To see the babies was just so moving. I hope they survive for generations and generations.”